Foreign Object Friday: Rick Martel's Arrogance

The Model
Courtesy: WWE

By Kevin Hunsperger

@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

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In the early and mid-80s, Rick Martel was the personification of 'white meat babyface.' He was the AWA World Heavyweight Champion around the time I started my wrestling fandom. In late 1986 or early 87, he and Tom Zenk headed to the WWF. The duo was known as the Can-Am Connection. They were wildly popular, but Zenk left abruptly and Tito Santana filled the void and the tandem was known as Strike Force.

Strike Force
Courtesy: WWE

They worked well together and even beat the Hart Foundation for the WWF Tag Team Championships. But it was villainous actions of Mr. Fuji that cost the team their titles to Demolition at WrestleMania IV. Then Ax and Smash injured Martel and he ended up on the shelf for quite a while.

By WrestleMania V, Martel and Santana were back together and facing the Brain Busters. There was a miscommunication during the match and Martel left in a huff, leaving Tito to face a two-on-one challenge. He couldn't overcome it and Strike Force lost in their much-anticipated return.

Martel & Slick
Courtesy: WWE

That's when Martel dropped the ultra good guy persona and became an arrogant jerk. He adopted the moniker The Model and picked up Slick as his manager. I still find that to be a strange pairing, but I digress...

The Model
Courtesy: WWE

The Model gimmick included Martel toting around a cologne atomizer filled with his specially created fragrance Arrogance. He would use the cologne to gain the upper hand and win a variety of matches. The most famous incident involving Arrogance was when Martel sprayed it in the eyes of Jake "The Snake" Roberts.

The blinding
Courtesy: WWE

The Snake was blinded for what seemed like months and the two had their pay off match at WrestleMania VII. They wore blindfolds and fumbled around the ring until Jake finally hit the DDT and picked up the win. The Model continued to carry around arrogance and use it on others, but nothing will top the feud with Jake Roberts in my 1-2-3 cents. 

Foreign Object Friday: The Moondogs' bones

Vintage Moondogs
Courtesy: WWE

By Kevin Hunsperger

@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

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By the time I became a full-fledged, all-in wrestling fan in 1983, the Moondogs were being used as enhancement talent in the WWF. But in 1981 Rex and King captured the WWWF Tag Team Championships with some help from their manager, Capt. Lou Albano and a trusty bone.

Bone to the neck
Courtesy: WWE

If you don't remember the Moondogs, look them up. Even though when I watched them in action they lost most of their matches, Rex and Spot were still an entertaining duo. The original incarnation of the team was Rex and King. On March 17, 1981, the duo beat Tony Garea and Rick Martel (long before his modeling days) for the gold. Martel was fighting with Albano on the apron when Moondog King blasted Garea with the bone and allowed Rex to get the pin.

Rex & Spot
Courtesy: WWE

During the course of their run, King left the team. That's when Spot was added. The new Moondogs lost the tag team titles back to Garea and Martel later that summer. The 'dogs stuck around and put over other teams like Barry Windham and Mike Rotunda, The British Bulldogs and The Killer Bees. They continued to carry those big rawhide bones to the ring along with their mangy hair and tattered jeans. But they never dug up any more tag team gold.

Rex gets smashed...
Courtesy: WWE

Fun fact, Rex is the Superstar who came up with the idea for the team Demolition and actually played Smash first. But fans recognized him through the makeup and continued chanting Rex during the team's first few matches, so he was replaced with Barry Darsow.

SummerSlam A to Z: Fists Banned

 By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter
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SummerSlam '92 featured an interesting match between two great competitors.  Many talk about the match up between Bret Hart and Davey Boy Smith, but the one I'm writing about today was between Shawn Michaels and "The Model" Rick Martel.  Michaels had been wrestling as a heel for a short time at this point and the Model had been established as a bad guy for a few years by this point.  The heel vs. heel component was just one interesting side to this match as the WWE rarely booked these matches back then.

Courtesy: WWE

Both men were full of themselves and very interested in having Sensational Sherri with them.  Shawn and Sherri were the couple at the time, but when Martel started making advances; the Heartbreak Kid got mad.  So not only was a match signed between the two, but the stipulation was added that fists to the face were banned.  That was Sherri's idea.  

The two put on a great match as Shawn was on the cusp of super stardom and I always thought Martel was a top notch competitor.  Both men made it through most of the match without punching one another, but a slugfest ensued and the match ended in a double count out.  Rewatching the match, Michaels clearly throws the first punch, but the referee didn't disqualify him.

Courtesy:  WWE

Technically speaking, closed fists are not supposed to be a part of any wrestling match, but it's a "rule" that's often ignored.  The Michaels-Martel match helped to bring it to light, at least for a few minutes.  I don't remember this feud going anywhere after SummerSlam as Shawn would soon beat Smith for the Intercontinental title and have a mini-feud with Bret. 

Boo: Halloween with My 1-2-3 Cents

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

Last year when I did the original Boo series of blogs, I ended with pics of fans dressed up like wrestlers.  I scoured the internet to come up with the images, and had a few from my own collection to share.  This year, I'm proud to say that all the images are of readers and viewers of My 1-2-3 Cents.  Your support has meant a lot since starting this two years ago.  Thanks to those who emailed me pictures too.

The Model Rick Martel, Jimmy Hart, Akeem, Macho Man,
80's Vince McMahon, & Jesse Ventura

Nathan Norman as Daniel Bryan
Yes! Yes! Yes!

Sean Mina as the Ultimate Warrior

Heath Hatton as Hulk Hogan

Check out those pythons!

Chris Hagstrom as the Hurricane

Martin Endersby as "The Model" Rick Martel

Chris Hagstrom as Zack Ryder

Chad as Shark Boy

Me as Papa Shango

Martin Endersby as Ric Flair
Woooo!

Chad as Strong Bad

If you haven't closed the page out after seeing these treats, check out the Papa Shango makeover video too.  Happy Halloween.

Black History Month: Slick

The Slickster!

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger on Twitter

The Doctor of Style Slick was one of the main stay managers in the WWF in the mid 80's and early 90's.  He managed lots of different talent, including Rick Martel, the Big Bossman, and the tag team of Power and Glory.  However, I don't think any of his men ever won any gold.  But hey, the Slickster was one of the most entertaining managers of all time.

My first memory of Slick was on Central States Wrestling when he was managing Butch Reed.  This was right before the duo headed to the WWF.  And once they arrived, Slick was paired up with "Classy" Freddie Blassie as he seemed to be the heir apparent to Blassie's stable.  Once Freddie retired, Slick took over the contracts of the Iron Sheik and Nikola Volkoff.

Slick & the Twin Towers

Through the years, men would come and go with his stable.  He picked up One Man Gang, who he helped transform into Akeem the African Dream, the Big Bossman, Rick Martel, the Warlord, and Power and Glory.  I think Bossman and Akeem, known collectively as the Twin Towers were probably Slick's most successful adventure.  They never won the tag team titles, but they were involved in some high profile matches in the WWF, including the Mega Powers explosion between Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage during Main Event back in 1989.  The Towers also main evented Survivor Series 1988 with their team taking on Hogan and Savage's.  I always thought the pairing of Slick and Rick Martel was a little awkward.  Martel struck me more of Heenan Family material.

One of the WWF memories I have of Slick is his singing of the song "Jive Soul Bro" on the Piledriver album.  I still chuckle when I hear the song, which I have in my iPod.  It became the anthem for the Twin Towers.

Slick & Kamala

I believe it was in 1991, Slick got powerslammed by the British Bulldog during a match with the Warlord.  Slick sold the injury and was missing from TV for some time.  When he returned, he was a face.  Reverend Slick even tried to soothe the savage beast known as Kamala.  The two did some mildly entertaining vignettes where Slick tried to teach Kamala to be more civilized.  They went bowling in one skit and I think sat down to a fancy dinner in another.

It wasn't long after that Slickster disappeared again.  He's popped up from time to time in the past on WWE television, including a guest spot at a recent Wrestlemania.  He was part of a backstage dance party.  He was also a part of Old School Raw.  I'd love to see him get inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame at some point.

Boo: Mystery Solved

Mystery Man strikes

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger on Twitter

Sticking with the Halloween-type costume theme and not so much the scary Halloween posts, I'm digging back 20 years for the WWF Superstar with no name.  However in the WWE Encyclopedia, he's listed as Mystery Man.  Does anyone remember him?  He wasn't around very long and back then he was quite the mystery.  Kinda.

I actually assumed Mystery Man was in fact Brutus Beefcake.  It was about a year after Beefcake's horrible para sailing accident.  He'd been on the shelf ever since.  Then in spring 1991, Earthquake had just beaten a jobber on Superstars.  He was about to do another post match Earthquake splash, when a guy in a mask and a crazy get up hit the ring.  This mysterious figure beat the hell out of Quake, and chased manager Jimmy Hart from the ring like a scalded dog (as Jim Ross would say)

Nice mask

The same thing happened after squash matches involving "The Model" Rick Martel and Dino Bravo.  I like mentioned before, back then Mystery Man had no name, the announcers had no idea who he was or what to call him.  And he never actually wrestled, so I'm not sure what the point was of having him come out.

Like I said, years later it was revealed to be Brutus Beefcake under the mask.  I had assumed it was him back then, just based on the build and the mannerisms of the man.  I remembered hoping this was actually going to develop into something, but it never did.  Yeah, I was a mark back then.  Probably still am.

Another version of the outfit

Legend has it that Beefcake wasn't fully recovered from the accident and wasn't yet ready to get back into the ring to wrestle.  Shortly after they pulled the plug on the Mystery Man, the Barber Shop talk show started up.  He changed up the costumes too.  In one attack he wore fur arm bands and mask.

So if you remember this gimmick for the few weeks it ran in 1991, and didn't realize it was Beefcake behind the character, consider the mystery solved.  Thanks for reading.  And don't forget to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

SummerSlam Rewind: Not the Face

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger on Twitter

SummerSlam 1992 featured two big main events.  The world title match between champion Randy Savage and the Ultimate Warrior (two faces) and the Intercontinental title match between champ Bret Hart and his brother-in-law Davey Boy Smith (two faces)  No doubt, the IC title match was the match of the night and could be argued as one of the greatest SummerSlam matches of all time.

A forgotten contest on that card featured an up and coming Shawn Michaels vs. "The Model" Rick Martel.  Both men were heels (maybe this match was made because of the two face vs. face matches on the card too) and had a stipulation that they couldn't punch one another in the face.  That may sound a bit ridiculous, but technically that stip was in line with the rules of wrestling.  Wrestlers aren't supposed to throw punches at one another.

I just rediscovered this match on YouTube.  And while I thought the ending was lame with Sherri Martel passing out and both men fighting to a double count-out, the match itself was pretty good.  Looking back on the Model's time in the WWF, I think he was one of the most overlooked heels in the company.  He's one of those guys who today would have had a run as the world champion.  Back then, they didn't trade the title off as often.

This match was also a good one because Shawn had just turned heel and was climbing the ladder of success.  I don't know if it was already determined then or not, but just a few short months later, HBK would defeat Davey Boy for the IC title.  I remember nearly 20 years ago when this SummerSlam match was signed, I assumed that Shawn would go over, simply based on the fact that he seemed to be in line for a push.  He was the new heel on the scene.  The double count-out was a surprise.  I don't think it really helped accomplish much of getting either guy over any more.

From WWE

But the match was entertaining and it was booked with a purpose.  Each man was vain and wanted to win the affections of Sherri. While I'm not crazy about a lot of silly gimmicks, the pretty boy and the model both pulled the characters off perfectly.  They were still real guys, but with ramped up, obnoxious personalities.  I think that's something that is missing from today's product.  There are two many "real" guys on the show.  But this is a case for another time.

If you're bored like I am, and don't have the SummerSlam anthology, hit up YouTube and check out past events.  While you're there, subscribe to the My 1-2-3 Cents channel.  Also like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.